Assessment for Learning

Tools & Strategies

Assessment for Learning

• This presentation brings together a wide range of classroom strategies which may be

used to support student learning.

• We hope you find them useful.

Students write Questions Students ask Questions Comment-only marking Mid-unit assessment ‘Might’

Wait-time Open vs closed Exemplar Work Student Marking Making aims clear

Lesson Target Setting Teacher Review Student Review Traffic Lights 2 stars and a wish

Self-assessment Targets One-Sentence Summary Articulate then Answer Scene-Setting Tell your neighbour

Idea Thoughts Bouncing Wait and recap Incorrect Discussion Muddiest Point

Devising Questions Learning Journal Redrafting Key features Invert the Question

Improvement Guidance Comment Follow-up Group feedback Peer Marking Thumbs

Teach Collaboration Traffic-Light Revision Generate and Answer Student Mark-Scheme Group Answers

X and Y All you know Corrections Laminated Criteria Conveying Progress

Think through Talking Discuss Words Communication Thoughtful Dialogue Feedback Sandwich

What is good? Self-evaluation What is a ‘good’ question? Graphic Organisers KWL

Talk Partners Post-It Response Partners Hands Down Question Stems

Regulating Learning A B C D Why is it best? Show and Tell Active Students

Long and Short Term Minute Paper Enquiry Question Smiley Faces Squares

Students write Questions

For example –

• About what they would like to know on a new topic

• To ask the teacher or other students in order to assess their learning

• To demonstrate their learning/misconceptions/areas they would like to further explore

The classroom could have a question box where students drop questions at the end of a lesson.

Or, a plenary could involve students writingquestions that the class then work on together, or forms the basis of the next lesson.

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Students ask Questions

Create opportunities for students to

ask questions. This could be of their

peers, of the teacher or as a means

to develop discussion.

A ‘question box’ for written questions

offers a different means of

communication for students

Allow time for students to ask

questions about pieces of work. This

helps open up assessment and

eliminate ambiguity

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Comment-only marking

Comment-only marking provides students

with a focus for progression instead of a

reward or punishment for their ego (as a

grade does).

Comments could be made in books, in a

table at the front of books, in a learning

diary or journal. The latter are helpful for

teacher and student to track the

progression of comments and see

improvement.

Comments should make it clear how the

student can improve.

Plan activities and work with feedback in

mind – let the design assist the process.

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Mid-unit assessment

Having an assessment at the end of a

unit may not provide time for you to

go over areas students have

struggled with, or in which there are

general misconceptions.

Timing assessment during a unit (i.e.

lesson 5 of 7) allows time to review,

reflect and revisit.

It also gives the teacher an

opportunity to focus explicitly on

areas of weak understanding

supported by evidence.

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‘Might’When questioning, insert the word

‘might’ to give students greater

opportunity to think and explore

possible answers.

e.g.

What is meaning of democracy?

What might the meaning of

democracy be?

The first infers a single answer known

by the teacher whereas the second is

inherently more open.

What might the Great Depression look

like today?

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Wait-time

Wait time allows students time to think

and therefore to produce answers. Also,

not everyone in the class thinks at the

same speed or in the same way – waiting

allows students to build their thoughts

and explore what has been asked.

2 types of wait time –

i) Teacher speaks and then waits before taking student responses.

ii) Student response ends and then teacher waits before responding. This gives the student space to elaborate or continue – or for another student to respond.

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Open vs closed

Closed questions can be useful

however are not great at facilitating

the use of abstract thinking skills,

encouraging talking or eliciting much

understanding. Open questions are

more likely to do this and thus

improve learning.

e.g.

Did you go out last night?

What did you after school yesterday?

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Exemplar Work

When setting students a piece of

work, show them examples that make

it clear what it is they are being asked

to do – and what they need to do in

order to meet the assessment criteria.

Students could mark exemplar work

using the assessment criteria. This

will help model what is being asked

for and how it relates to the process

of assessment.

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Student Marking

By taking part in the process of

assessment, students gain a deeper

understanding of topics, the process

of assessment and what they are

doing in their own work. This helps to

make them more aware of ‘what

learning is’ and thus see their own

learning in this way.

Students could self- or peer- mark

homework or assessments.

This could be done in pairs or

individually with a student-made or

‘official’ mark-scheme.

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Making aims clear

- Put lesson objectives on the board at the beginning of the lesson.

- Talk to students about why they are studying what they are studying.

- Contextualise short-term aims in long-term aims (e.g. analysing Shakespeare will contribute to a wider knowledge of the cultural canon and stronger analytical skills among other long term aims)

- Check with students that they are clear about the aims of the lesson/unit/subject

- Produce aims in conjunction with students

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Lesson Target Setting

Make the lesson more purposeful for

students by setting targets at the

beginning about what you and the

class are going to do.

These can be referred to through the

lesson and/or revisited in the plenary.

Students could have to show how

they have met targets in the plenary

and/or set targets for next lesson.

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Teacher Review

The teacher leads the review of the

lesson or unit using questioning to

elicit understanding from students.

Focus could also fall upon the

effectiveness of the lesson at

facilitating learning – i.e. can students

think of ways that it could be altered

to improve their learning?

The teacher could model review by

evaluating the lesson in relation to

their own objectives.

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Student Review

Students review their own learning

either in groups or individually. This

could be done as a plenary, a

mini-plenary or as an activity to help

planning for future revision or the

remainder of the unit.

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Traffic Lights

Use traffic lights as a visual means of

showing understanding.

e.g.

• Students have red, amber and green

cards which they show on their desks

or in the air. (red = don’t understand,

green = totally get it etc.)

• Students self-assess using traffic

lights. The teacher could then record

these visually in their mark book.

• Peer assess presentations etc. with

traffic lights

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Self-assessment Targets

Students give themselves targets

based on their self-assessment.

These learning goals could be

recorded somewhere and revisited

(i.e. inside cover of workbook)

They could be compared to teacher

targets and the two brought to

consensus if different.

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2 stars and a wish

For peer assessment, ask students to

give two stars and a wish.

Two stars = 2 things that are good

about the piece of work

A wish = something they can improve

to make it even better

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Articulate then Answer

Give students the opportunity to

articulate their thinking before

answering –

• 30 seconds silent thinking before

any answers

• Brainstorm in pairs first for 2-3

minutes

• Write some thoughts down before

answering

• Discuss with your neighbour first

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Scene-Setting

Set the scene for the lesson by using

a big, open question or problem-

solving task that requires abstract

thinking skills. Anticipate responses

and follow-up so as to work these

through.

E.g. A lesson on the Vietnam War

could begin with the question –

Do Americans think they fight wars, or

win them?

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Tell your neighbour

Students ‘tell their neighbour’ as a

means of articulating their thoughts.

- Ask a question, give thinking time

and then ask students to tell their

neighbour their thoughts.

- Tell students what the new topic is

and then ask them to tell their

neighbour everything they know

about it.

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Idea Thoughts

When you have received an answer

to a question, open up the thinking

behind it by asking what others think

about the idea.

e.g. “What do others think about

_________’s idea?”

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Bouncing

Bounce answers around the room to

build on understanding and have

students develop stronger reasoning

out of misconceptions.

E.g.

“Jimmy, what do you think of

Sandra’s answer?”

“Sandra, how could you develop

Carl’s answer to include more detail?”

“Carl, how might you combine all

we’ve heard into a single answer?”

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Wait and recap

Wait for students to draw out most of

the key words you are asking for and

then reframe the question – asking for

a synthesis which recaps the whole

discussion by joining all these words

into a single coherent answer,

paragraph etc.

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Incorrect Discussion

Use incorrect answers as a

discussion point.

Rather then dismissing something

because it is wrong, or saying ‘that’s

interesting’ etc. Use the

misconception in reasoning to draw

the process out into the open.

This leads to improving on

misconceived reasoning and an

atmosphere in which it is OK to be

Wrong.

I’m glad that’s

the wrong

answer… let’s

discuss it

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Devising Questions

Devise questions that –

• Challenge common

misconceptions

• Create conflict that requires

discussion

• Explore ambiguity and encourage

discussion and clarification

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Learning Journal

Create a learning journal in which

students can reflect on and review

their learning. It could include plenary

activities, a target setting chart, aims

and goals etc.

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Redrafting

Use lesson time to redraft work.

This allows students time to focus on

the feedback for improvement they

have been given.

It also reinforces the value of the

feedback and allows them to work

at it in a supportive environment.

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Key features

When designing written tasks to go

alongside oral work, intend for them

to develop and show understanding

of the key features of what students

have learned.

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Improvement Guidance

When making comments on pupils’

work, treat them like guidance

showing how the pupil can improve.

Develop this by asking students to

write in the same way when peer

assessing work.

Discuss the notion of guidance and

how it differs from other types of

behaviour (i.e. prescription,

admonishment etc.)

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Comment Follow-up

Give students opportunities to follow

up comments -

- Create time in the lesson to talk to

individual students.

- Have a written dialogue in the

students’ book.

- Use a comment tracker or targets

sheet to formalise the dialogue in

a workbook

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Group feedback

Group feedback to a teacher

concerning peer-assessment of work

can help make the teacher aware of

learning needs in a manageable way.

If a group feeds back then it draws

more attention and presents

information that has already been

ordered and sorted (meaning less

repetition for the teacher).

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Peer Marking

Students mark each others’ work

according to assessment criteria.

Encourages reflection and thought about

the learning as well as allowing students

to see model work and reason past

misconceptions.

Opportunities to do this throughout

individual lessons and schemes of

work.

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Thumbs

Check class understanding of what

you are teaching by asking them

to show their thumbs.

Thumbs up = I get it

Thumbs half way = sort of

Thumbs down = I don’t get it

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Teach Collaboration

Peer assessment requires students to

act collaboratively. Indeed, AfL is a

collaborative enterprise. Therefore,

explicitly teach skills of collaboration.

This process can be assisted by

discussing collaboration with pupils

and making it visible as a part of the

classroom.

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Traffic-Light Revision

When revising a topic or subject, work

through the different areas with

students and ask them to traffic light

according to their grasp of each.

Subsequently, students should be

able to target their revision more

carefully and engage in it actively,

rather than simply reviewing

everything they have done or reading

passively over their entire notes.

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Generate and Answer

When preparing for exams, students

generate their own questions and

then practice answering them.

This makes learners think explicitly

about the underlying structures of

assessment, as well as the material

which they are being asked to

manipulate. Form as well as function!

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Student Mark-Scheme

Ask students to produce their own

mark-schemes working individually or

in groups. They can then peer- or

self-assess work in accordance

with these schemes.

Talk about the purpose of a mark-

scheme with students – judgement,

communication, standardisation etc.

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Group Answers

Students work in small groups to

agree on answers – when tests are

returned or in other situations.

The process of agreeing should

include reasoning over the validity of

the consensus answer, as well as

reasoned negation of misconceptions

or wrong answers.

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Think through Talking

Talking allows students to articulate

their thoughts and thus to learn.

Encourage thinking through talking

with –

- Discussion activities

- Structured group/pair work

- Modelling by teacher and students

(small group work increases the

‘surface area’ of talk in the classroom

as opposed to whole class

discussions)

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Invert the Question

Instead of asking a question that

requires factual recall, invert it to

request explicit reasoning.

e.g.

‘Is France a democracy?’

becomes

‘What does it mean for a country to

be a democracy?’

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X and Y

Ask students why X is an example of Y

e.g.

Why is an apple an example of a fruit?

Why is a fox an example of a mammal?

Questioning in this way avoids factual

recall and asks for the underlying

reasoning to be made explicit.

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All you know

Students write down everything

they know about ________ at the

start of the unit.

The teacher can then teach the unit

accordingly, using existing

knowledge and avoiding repetition.

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Corrections

Reinforce the focus on redrafting and

comment-only marking by insisting on

seeing evidence of student

corrections on their own work before

looking at it (have to allow time for

this).

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Laminated Criteria

Make laminated, student-

friendly assessment criteria

cards.

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Conveying Progress

Find a means of using

assessment to convey progress to

students and thus make what they

are doing more meaningful.

- Link learning between units

- Use a learning journal

- Refer to past targets and highlight

where the student is achieving this

- Have a target chart where it is visible

how the student has progressed

- Link assessment to student goal-

setting

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Discuss Words

When engaged in discussion take key

words and look at them specifically.

Discuss how they are being used –

Is there any ambiguity?

Is everyone using the word in the

same way?

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Communication

Ask students to communicate thinking

through different mediums – not just

writing; drawing, drama, maps,

sculpture etc.

The medium is the message and

therefore circumscribes to some

extent how communication can take

place. Using alternative mediums

allows the teacher to ‘see’ students’

understanding from different angles.

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Thoughtful Dialogue

Dialogue between teacher and students

should be thoughtful, reflective,

focussed to evoke and explore

understanding, and conducted so that all

pupils have an opportunity to express

their ideas.

(Page 12, Inside the Black Box, Paul Black & Dylan William, nferNelson, 1998)

Discuss the quality of dialogue with

students and ask them to articulate what

its purpose is, why, and how (if

necessary) it may be improved).

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Feedback Sandwich

Feedback can be delivered in

different ways, two feedback

‘sandwiches’ are –

i) Positive comment

Constructive criticism with

explanation of how to improve

Positive comment

ii) Contextual statement – I

liked….because….

Now/Next time…

Interactive statement e.g. a

question based on the work

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What is good?Spend time ensuring that there is

consensus between yourself and the

pupils over what makes a piece of

work ‘good’, and how they are

expected to achieve it. Use questions

such as –

‘Can you tell me what makes a piece

of work good?’

‘How do you feel about comments?’

‘Do you always know what you need to do

next/think about?’

‘Do you know when you have done a

‘good’ piece of work?’

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Self-evaluation

Self-evaluation involves learning how we

learn, whereas self-assessment is

what we learn. To train pupils in self-

evaluation, use questions such as:

• Think about what has happened when the

learning has taken place

• What really made you think? What did you

find difficult?

• What do you need more help with?

• What are you pleased about?

• What have you learnt new about X?

• How would you change the learning

activity to suit another class?

The teacher can model answers to these

to show the pupils how to self-evaluate.

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What is a ‘good’ question?

Discuss with students what makes a

‘good’ question. The process can

explicitly show them the difference

between open and closed questions.

They can then come up with

questions on a topic and decide

which are best, and then move on

to discuss and answer these.

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Graphic OrganisersUse graphic organisers to help pupils self-assess.

All these are taken from

http://www.aaia.org.uk/pdf/Publication

s/AAIAformat4.pdf

(page 19)

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http://www.aaia.org.uk/pdf/Publications/AAIAformat4.pdf

KWL

At the beginning of a topic pupils create a

grid with three columns –

What They Know;

What They Want To Know;

What They Have Learnt.

They begin by brainstorming and filling in

the first two columns and then return to

the third at the end of the unit (or refer

throughout) .

Variation – extra column ‘How Will I Learn’

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Talk Partners

As a plenary or a starter referring to

the last lesson, pupils share with a

partner:

• 3 new things they have learnt

• What they found easy

• What they found difficult

• Something they would like to learn

in the future

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Post-It

Use post-it notes to evaluate learning.

Groups, pairs or individuals can

answer:

• What have I learnt?

• What have I found easy?

• What have I found difficult?

• What do I want to know now?

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Response PartnersPaired or partnership oral marking.

Pupils invite a partner or a group to

discuss or comment on their work.

For it to be effective, students should

be aware of learning objectives and

success criteria. They should also

appreciate the role of a response

partner – to offer positive and

constructive feedback around the

learning goals.

Students could be given prompt

questions to ask the person who has

done the work.

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Hands DownTell pupils they should only raise their

hand to ask a question, not to answer one.

The teacher then chooses pupils to

answer, therefore gaining information on

whether everyone is learning.

www.classtools.net – fruit machine

programme on here where you can input

names, save it and play it to choose pupils

at random.

Write names on lollipop sticks and pull out

at random to answer.

Write numbers on balls or counters that

tally to register or seating position and re-

use with every class.

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http://www.classtools.net/

Good Question Stems

Why does…?

What if…?

How would you…?

Could you explain…?

What might…?

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Regulating Learning

Circulating through the room whilst

students are engaged in an activity

means the teacher can collect

information on learning, employ

different assessment strategies and

intervene where appropriate.

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A B C D

Laminate a set of cards so every

member of the class has four, with

A,B,C and D written on them. Ask

questions with four answers and

pupils can show you their answer.

Encourage them not to look at other

people’s response so as to copy.

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Why is it best?

For homework ask students to find

their best piece of work and then to

tell you why it is their best. This

explanation could refer to success

criteria, levels, targets etc.

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Show and Tell

Use mini-whiteboards so that very

student can write or draw their

answer and show it to you (or their

peers) immediately.

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Active Students

Key to AfL is students being active,

engaged participants in their learning.

Think of ways in which content can be

manipulated for these ends, rather

than the other way round.

If the content seems boring then

make the approach fun or interesting.

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Long and Short Term

To draw together progression with the

big picture, students could set both

long and short term targets.

The short term targets could be

reviewed weekly or fortnightly and the

long term targets at the end of term.

Having a long term target may give

more cogency to the pupil’s and

teacher’s short term targets. It may

also allow the pupil to focus on what

Really motivates them about a

subject.

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Minute Paper

Students identify the most significant

(useful, meaningful, unlikely) thing

they have learnt during the lesson or

unit.

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Enquiry Question

Use an enquiry question to stimulate

high-level thinking in the lesson or

unit.

e.g.

How democratic is the United

Kingdom?

Why is our school so ethnically

diverse?

What is enquiry-based learning -

http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/ceebl/ebl/

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Smiley Faces

Students draw smiley faces to indicate how comfortable they are with the topic.

Ready to move on Understand some parts

but not allDo not understand and

need to look at it again

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Squares

When a pupil has finished a piece of

work they draw a square on the page.

If they do not understand the work

they colour it red, if they are so-so

then yellow and if A-OK the green.

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Muddiest Point

Students write down one or two

points on which they are least clear.

This could be from the previous

lesson, the rest of the unit, the

preceding activity etc. The teacher

and class can then seek to remedy

the muddiness.

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One-Sentence Summary

Students write a sentence

summarising their knowledge of a

topic.

The sentence could have to include

who, what when, why, how, where

etc.

The sentences could then be peer-

assessed, re-drafted and so on.

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